「You already dumped work on those two and came here?」
「No choice, right? The move’s happening at the same time.」
More importantly, it’s not dumping. It’s training.
Double-checking calculations is the kind of torture that should be endless for lowly apprentices.
I’ve been indoors a lot lately, so the fresh air outside feels wonderful.
I ride my own horse at a leisurely pace toward our destination.
Our house is finally complete.
The furniture and everything else was delivered ahead of time, so today I just want to take a look around.
Since I have zero sense of direction or anything else, I dragged onii-chan along, he was in charge of the construction.
He’s here to guide the way～ That’s the plan.
「It’s pretty far out, huh?」
「Yeah. This area is technically still within the capital’s bounds. Apparently, they used it for kingdom army training long ago… but now it’s designated as a defensive spot against anything troublesome that might come through the gate past Ulurmel.」
「What’s that supposed to mean?」
「Even if they can’t send a thousand people, with enough effort they could probably force through about fifty. Way back in ancient times, they summoned a practitioner from another world called a ‘necromancer’ and sent him through the gate at an enemy nation… Ever since then, every country keeps some kind of watch on gates like that.」
What kind of terrorism is that?
Yeah, if someone summoned a person like that… just thinking about it is way too dangerous.
「Since we’re building a house in a spot like this anyway, might as well kill two birds with one stone…look, there’s your place.」
「……」
Huh? Where’s the house?
All I can see is a big stone fortress… or maybe a stronghold… that’s the only thing in my field of vision.
No matter where I look, nothing else registers. Against the backdrop of trees… there’s just this huge fortress, bam.
「I demand a rebuild!」
「Idiot. Guys who only care about appearances never get popular, you know?」
「I don’t want to hear that from a man obsessed with breast size!」
「Big breasts are every man’s dream. A little kid like you wouldn’t understand yet.」
I’ll probably never understand big-boob lovers for the rest of my life!
「It really looks like a fortress from the outside.」
「No, Arg. It’s a residence equipped with fortress functions. This is not a fortress.」
「No, it’s a fortress. It looks exactly like one, no matter how you slice it.」
「That’s why you shouldn’t care about appearances. As long as the inside is solid, a house is fine.」
「Is that so?」
「You… what do you usually do on your days off?」
That’s obvious.
From morning till night, I spend the whole day spoiling and being spoiled by Noie… and when the mood strikes, we go shopping together in the castle town.
After we come back, more spoiling and being spoiled in the courtyard… then a bath, dinner, and off to bed together.
It hits me all at once. The shape of the house doesn’t matter at all.
「What really matters… is the bed and the garden chairs.」
「I won’t deny the bed part, but the garden chairs are on you. Buy them with your own money.」
So that means our next day off is officially a furniture-shopping date with Noie.
「What about the bed?」
「We’ll disassemble the one you’re using now and transport it.」
「Hm? We can take it with us?」
That bed is huge and incredibly comfortable, so I was planning to look for the same one if we couldn’t.
「That’s the only personal belonging Noie actually owns. If she says she doesn’t want it, we can just leave it as is.」
「I didn’t even know that fact existed.」
The one and only personal item for Noie, who shows zero interest in material things, turns out to be a bed.
「Apparently the previous bed didn’t suit her well… so Frea took her around to choose, and that’s the one she picked. It’s big, sure, but it’s a one-of-a-kind masterpiece made by a craftsman who poured his heart and soul into it…she paid cash on the spot.」
「Well, Noie’s earnings are…」
She’s making dozens of times more than me, even though I work pretty seriously every day.
For every dragon she slays, she gets thirty percent of the proceeds.
The percentage feels surprisingly low at first glance… but since Noie takes down so many, it works out just right.
Onii-chan, the prime minister, said that if she earned too much, the surrounding nobles would make a huge fuss.
But seventy percent going to the national treasury… well, maybe you can’t run a country on pure idealism alone.
「Ah, I almost forgot. All the money Noie has deposited with the national treasury… we’re moving it all over here, okay?」
「Yeah, can’t be helped. That’s normal… though it’ll hurt to lose our emergency funds if something happens.」
Hey, hey. Don’t just go using my wife’s savings as your personal piggy bank!
-0-
After that, the two of us walked around the inside and outside of the house, checking all the little details.
There were a few spots that needed minor fixes, so I placed an additional order at my own expense.
Right now, the Draguknight family’s finances rank among the top of the kingdom’s nobility… so a little extra construction work is nothing at all.
And the speaking tubes worked perfectly.
Now our privacy is fully secured!
But… will Noie and I really be able to, you know… properly?
「So, Noie.」
「Yes.」
「We’re moving to the new house on our next day off.」
「Yes.」
「More precisely, we’ll start the move the day before your day off, and we’ll be spending the night there from that evening onward.」
「Yes.」
「…You understand?」
「Yes.」
Well, her ahoge isn’t reacting at all, so we’re probably fine.
Just like always, we’re on top of the bed.
Our husband-and-wife conversation ends face-to-face, so next up is head-patting or lap pillow time.
When Noie shifted, I braced myself for one or the other….only for her to come straight at me!
W-Wait a second! Why are you pressing your chest against me like that?!
「Arg-sama?」
「Y-Yes!」
「Why do you make that face whenever this part touches you?」
You pressed your chest against me just to test my reaction?! I’m thrilled, but I’m seriously going to die of happiness here!
「Because… um… it’s soft and squishy, you know!」
「Soft?」
「Yeah. Really, really soft.」
But it’s also incredibly assertive! What kind of torture is this?!
Noie murmurs 「Soft?」 to herself while touching her own chest… then, apparently getting bored after a while, she gives me a lap pillow.
Um… did she just completely toy with me?
Leave a Reply